Jesus Christ Superstar

Jesus Christ Superstar is one of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s earliest collaborations and is a sung-through rock opera focussing on the life of Jesus leading up to the crucifixion, with the plot centring mainly on the tensions between him and Judas, who was unhappy with the direction in which Jesus was steering the disciples. It’s hard to believe today, but they initially had difficulty getting the financial backing for the show and resorted to releasing a concept album. But the album’s success led to the original Broadway production in 1971, followed by the West End in 1972.

What a feast for the eyes and ears this production was! Bee Anderson and Luke Henley’s direction and Bee’s choreography were stunning – each number ended with a beautiful tableau and the stage was filled with life and energy. Equally, the serious moments were treated with the proper respect: I felt every lash of that whip and the whole audience was holding its breath during the crucifixion.

The solid and extensive set, on several levels, looked amazing and scene changes were hardly noticeable. Chris Pratt’s lighting design was phenomenal, with so many detailed transformations and incredible effects. Costumes (Tammy English) too were faultless – I don’t know whether to call them ‘modern with a hint of period’ or ‘period with a hint of modern – both seemed to apply, but either way, they worked perfectly.

I’ve never seen Ewan Wharton in a lead role before, but wow, what an impression he made as Jesus. A melodic singing voice with an incredible range, wringing every ounce of emotion out of his numbers, and ably demonstrating moods from anger to softness and everything in between. Aaron Hayes as Judas was also a revelation – boy did he do justice to this complex and intense role, with his singing almost appearing out of control at times but reining it in the next minute. What emotions he portrayed! Lauren Foord’s Mary Magdalene was a complete contrast – beautiful, clear and controlled singing, and acting to tug at our heartstrings.

There was a huge cast of other characters, ensemble and choir, too numerous to mention individually, but what a great sound you created all while interpreting Bee’s choreography so crisply. I have to pick out Alex Sutcliffe-Robert (Caiaphas) – what an amazingly rich, deep and resonant voice you have – the envy of all lesser basses like me!

The band, under MD James Bowen-Thomas, perched up at the top of the set, produced a great sound – so redolent of the rock era that produced this show. Sound (by Fareham Live) at this venue has been troublesome in the past, but was mostly excellent with a good balance between band and singers - just a few crackles but seriously letting down King Herod with a complete mic failure. Ryan Moss was not deterred (possibly not even aware), he projected really well, and we enjoyed every word of his wonderfully camp rendition of King Herod’s song.

The excellent, well-designed and easily readable programme was packed full of information about the cast and creatives, plus interesting photos of your rehearsals – which looked great fun.

This was one of those shows where you leave the theatre feeling truly lifted, humming the tunes and talking about aspects of it all the way home. Such was the quality of this production we could easily have been in the West End. Well done Benchmark – you set a high standard with your first show and have been exceeding it every show since.

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